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Zimbabwe withers in Mugabe's mailed fist

Sunday Observer, Sri Lanka

By
Lynn Ockersz

The increasingly bloody political repression in Zimbabwe is
proof of the growing desperation of its ageing authoritarian ruler -
President Robert Mugabe.

Contemporary Zimbabwe provides clinching
evidence that strong arm rule and a growing panic over losing power among
those capriciously wielding it, are just two sides of the same coin. Mugabe
is right now a living example of this pervasive political
tendency.

There is a growing wave of popular opposition to Mugabe's rule
but the reaction of the out-of-favour authoritarian Head of State is to
unleash all the repression at his command on the dissenters. Thus has the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai been subjected
to severe physical harassment and demoralizing restrictions. Tsvangirai
himself has been a victim of the state's strong arm tactics.

The
severity of the repression that has been thus exercised is strongly
reflective of the state's determination to thwart the gathering movement for
political liberalization in Zimbabwe.

Substantial democratic change
in the country continues to be an elusive goal. However, rather than take
the zest out of the opposition campaign, the mounting repression only seems
to be making it grow.

With the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe coming out
strongly in favour of the movement for democratic change, the opposition to
the state seems to be acquiring unprecedented depth and vibrancy.

In
a letter titled "God Hears the Cries of the Oppressed", the Catholic Bishops
Conference of Zimbabwe said, among other things, that, "Many people in
Zimbabwe are angry and their anger is now erupting into open revolt in one
township after another ..... In order to avoid further bloodshed and avert a
mass uprising, the nation needs a new people-driven constitution that will
guide a democratic leadership chosen in free and fair elections".

With
the Catholic Church taking on a pivotal role in the opposition to Mugabe's
rule, the confrontation between the sides could be expected to be both
prolonged and absorbing, with the opposition receiving increasing strength
and staying power.

In a Catholic-majority country, the Church is bound to
make much headway as an awareness-raising agent.While a weakening of the
government could not be expected in the short and medium terms, it is bound
to suffer impairment in the long term as the opposition campaign gains
strength and Zimbabwe faces international isolation as a result of the West
taking strong exception to the Zimbabwean state's repressive
conduct.

Moreover, the deteriorating economic situation in Zimbabwe too
is bound to further spike opposition to the state. Today, agricultural
productivity in the country has hit rock bottom and the inflation rate is
rising astronomically. Even if political disaffection does not have the
desired effect of weakening the state, economic disaffection
would.

With the majority of the population living off state handouts,
economic discontent is likely to take a heavy toll on the country's internal
stability. Although initially described by the Western press in the early
eighties as "Marxist leaning", Mugabe is no communist.

His initial
policy platform was black nationalism and this did serve the vital purpose
of delivering Zimbabwe from white minority rule.

However, unlike in the
case of South Africa, Mugabe has failed to take his country along even a
broadly social-democratic path. Zimbabwe has had no guiding vision of this
kind and has today degenerated into an authoritarian, one-party state where
the state class or the ruling elite is enjoying an obscenely parasitic
existence, while the people wither and die in a state of chronic economic
want.

The fate that awaits such states is a prolonged, agonising, slow
death. The often noted Third World political irony of the one-time oppressed
degenerating into the oppressor, is thus haunting Zimbabwe too.

The
Zanu-PF under Mugabe and their allies did well to dislodge the white
minority regime under Ian Smith in 1980 but have failed to take Zimbabwe
along a progressive path. Instead the erstwhile liberators have today turned
oppressor. That is, the new, black state class is entrenching itself in
power at the expense of the people.

One could only hope that the
movement for democracy would have long life and resourcefulness because it
is an important corrective to the oppressive structure forced on Zimbabwe by
its one-time liberators.

Sanctions: Chefs' children targetted

ZIMBABWEANS in the Diaspora have started a campaign to have
all children of senior Zanu PF officials deported to boost the clout of the
"smart sanctions".

The campaign, known as Fair Deal, is being
pushed by Diasporans based in Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand, United
Kingdom and other parts of Europe.

It is being run through a
news website, Zimdaily.com.

The campaign has reportedly gained wide
popularity among Zimbabweans who feel the children of senior Zanu PF and
government officials must not continue to enjoy the benefits of Western
education, health, democracy and freedom which their parents are denying
their fellow Zimbabweans back home.

"We do not hate these poor
kids," reads a message posted on the website. "We love them. We want them to
be with their parents."

Zimbabweans living overseas have designed a
standard letter of protest to be sent to their MPs in all countries seeking
the deportation of all children of Zanu PF stalwarts.

The
letter reads: "I and all of my fellow countrymen are angered and
disappointed to learn of the presence of those that are directly benefiting
from Mugabe's rogue regime in this country.

"We believe they do
not have a right to enjoy a society that has freedom of expression, speech,
association and other basic freedoms that are denied people in
Zimbabwe.

"Not only are our fundamental freedoms in Zimbabwe
denied, but also our right to live. Any dissent against the government is
met with the highest possible punishment: death."

The letter
appeals to the local MP to lobby for the deportation of children of senior
ruling party officials.

One official co-ordinating the campaign
told The Standard: "One of the objectives of Fair Deal Campaign is to expose
Zanu PF hypocrisy of castigating Western countries yet their offspring
reside and are being educated there.

"We have successfully
courted the support of MPs in the UK, New Zealand, Canada, Belgium,
Australia and the US.

"To date, 200 names, including contact
addresses, social security numbers, passport numbers, photos and immigration
status have been collected. The response from some Western governments has
been very encouraging, with some officials asking for names and contact
details."

Zimbabweans in the Diaspora who have been denied the vote
appear determined to ensure that the children of senior government and Zanu
PF officials join their parents on the travel sanctions list, preventing
them from travelling to Europe, the US, Canada, New Zealand and
Australia.

Most of the children of senior Zanu PF officials are
reportedly on government scholarships.

The First Secretary for
Political and Public Diplomacy at the British Embassy in Harare, Gillian
Dare, said in an interview: "No decision has been made to extend the visa
ban to the children of people who are already on the visa ban
list.

"In the meantime, if we are informed that children of key
regime figures on the visa ban list are studying in the UK, we will
investigate where the funding for their studies has come from and whether
that contravenes the EU assets freeze."

Almost the entire
Cabinet, top military officers and senior ruling party officials have
children studying at institutions overseas.

In its recent report,
the International Crisis Group recommended that in order to pressure Harare
towards the solution of the Zimbabwe crisis, the European Union and the USA
could apply travel sanctions on the family members and business associates
of those on the travel lists.

In addition, the ICG recommended that
the EU and the US could cancel visas and resident permits of family members
of senior government officials.

However, not all Zimbabweans
believe the children should pay for their parents' misdeeds.

Information minister, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu was reluctant to comment on the
issue, saying: "Those children are in those places legally. How can people
claim they are interested in human rights and yet want to deprive others of
their human rights? It is like calling for sanctions which cause people to
starve."

Defiance campaign in Byo

BULAWAYO - Church leaders yesterday defied a police order barring opposition
spokesmen from addressing a prayer meeting in Bulawayo and urged the
government to stop abducting its critics.

The meeting organised by
the Save Zimbabwe Campaign (ZSC) was held at the Roman Catholic Church's St
Patrick's Cathedral in Makokoba to pray for "an end to the country's
political and economic problems".

ZSC was only given permission to
hold the meeting on Friday evening on condition that opposition leaders
would not be allowed to address the service.

But pro-Senate
MDCleader Arthur Mutambara was given the platform and immediately attacked
the government for "worsening the political and economic situation in the
country".

Thokozani Khuphe, vice-president of the Morgan
Tsvangirai-led MDC, was among the more than 1 000 people who attended the
service. They included bishops from Malawi and South Africa.

The spokesperson of the anti-Senate MDC, Nelson Chamisa, said Tsvangirai
failed to attend the service because the party was holding an executive
meeting in Harare at the same time.

Speaking at the service,
outspoken Bulawayo cleric Archbishop Pius Ncube said it was time Zimbabweans
"stood up together and confront the Mugabe-led government".

"The President of this country is also suffering under the current
situation," Ncube said. "We have a duty to save him as he and his family is
not at ease. They are suffering and don't know how to help themselves to get
out of this situation."

Mutambara said opposition parties and
civic groups must unite to form a strong coalition ahead of parliamentary
and presidential elections next year.

"There is no alternative
to working together. If Herbert Chitepo, Alfred Nikita Mangena and Jason
Moyo and other late liberation war fighters were alive, they were going to
be with us in fighting the Mugabe-led government," he said.

In
a solidarity message at the same meeting, the general secretary of the
Malawi Council of Churches, Canaan Phiri, said the region must not be fooled
by claims that Zimbabwe's crisis was as a result of "illegal
sanctions".

"The crisis in Zimbabwe is of your government's
making. What you are going through right now is what we went through under
Kamuzu Banda.

"We believe violence breeds violence and violence
against the opposition will not solve the crisis in Zimbabwe," Phiri
said.

Meanwhile, two SZC leaders in Bulawayo, Ray Motsi and Patson
Nhetawere were briefly detained by police on Thursday over the series of
prayer meetings being held around the country.

Many say independence now 'meaningless'

OPPOSITION activists and ordinary people said yesterday
celebrating Independence had become virtually meaningless as poverty and
political repression now matched that of the colonialists.

A
snap survey by The Standard last week included the view that President
Robert Mugabe (pictured)'s government had become as intolerant as the last
days of Ian Smith's regime.

They said Mugabe, who has been in power
for 27 uninterrupted years, had destroyed everything the country achieved
before and after Independence in his quest to remain in power.

Mugabe had banned political rallies, marches and demonstrations, virtually
rendering Zimbabweans a nation of political captives.

MDC
pro-Senate president Arthur Mutambara said the principles and values of the
liberation struggle - democracy, freedom, liberty, equality, universal
suffrage, social justice - were no longer part of the nation-state, making
celebrations "an immoral act".

"We live in an undeclared state of emergency where
our basic freedoms and liberties of assembly, speech, movement and
association are heavily curtailed by repressive legislation," Mutambara
said.

Tafadzwa Mugabe of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
(ZLHR) said in the wake of the events of 11 March when State security agents
brutalized MDC members and human rights activists, celebrating Independence
had become devoid of meaning.

"I did not imagine that one day a
black government would turn against its own people," said 79-year-old Mbuya
Sekai Khuzwayo of Highfield.

She was an activist of ZANU in the
1960s when nationalists, including Robert Mugabe, spoke out against and
resisted colonial oppression.

Makoni wins children's rights award

Zim Standard

By Bertha
Shoko

MORE than five million children from 85 countries on Friday
voted for Zimbabwe's Betty Makoni as the winner of the World Children's
Prize for the Rights of the Child.

Makoni is the founder and
director of Girl Child Network (GCN). She scooped the first prize after the
children voted for the Zimbabwean child rights activist, who had travelled
to Stockholm, Sweden, last week for the announcement.

Makoni
was competing with Cynthia Maung of Burma and Inderjit Khurana of India,
both champions in the fight for a better world for children in their
countries.

Tighter US sanctions on the way, says Dell

THE United States will adopt a twin strategy of increasing
targeted sanctions and condemnation of State-sanctioned atrocities in
Zimbabwe, US Ambassador Christopher Dell told The Standard last
week.

Dell was responding to calls by the regional grouping, SADC,
to lift targeted sanctions against government, ruling party officials and
their business partners.

"That is simply not going to happen,"
Dell said. "Until we see irrefutable evidence, until we see that the
government has adopted a new approach. Until we see those people targeted
are serious about economic reforms to lift the country out of the mess that
it is in and about pursuing policies that will resolve the crisis, they are
not going to be let off the hook. Lifting sanctions will give them a free
pass."

The US ambassador said condemning the atrocities being
committed by the government was important because this increased the
government's isolation.

US is prepared to show its revulsion of
State-sponsored violence goes beyond mere condemnation.

"You
will see an increase in some of the targeted measures that we have been
taking," Dell said. "You will see a further tightening of that . . . It
requires Presidential decision from Washington."

Last year Zimbabwe
claimed it was committed to bridge-building, but Dell said it was hard to
think that any government could do anything resembling bridge-building when
it was intolerant to criticism.

While the government had responded
by unleashing a campaign against foreign critics, Dell said Zimbabwe did not
understand the "extremely negative consequences" the country would
experience.

Undeterred by government attacks, Dell said, Harare was
free to expel him, but whether he stayed or left Zimbabwe that would not
silence the US.

"Somebody will take over my place. What happens to
me as an individual does not matter. I am getting near the end of my
assignment. I will move on. Zimbabwe will have to deal with the consequences
of self-inflicted wounds and deteriorating relationships with the outside
world," he said, warning: "Sending me away now would provide me an
opportunity to speak out more directly, not only in the US but throughout
the region."

Dell dismissed accusations by the government linking
the US, UK and the opposition to violence as "patently absurd". It was
"naked gall" for President Robert Mugabe to boast about his government's
violence and then attribute it to someone else.

But the US
ambassador said he was more optimistic than a year ago. The reason was that
next year's elections and the inevitability of a transition could be a step
closer to signalling an end to the crisis in Zimbabwe. Free and fair
elections represented the best chance for the country's peaceful
transition.

But he said there was a fundamental disconnect in
Zanu PF. On one hand they claim they are the permanent majority party of
Zimbabwe because of what they did during the liberation struggle and that
the majority of Zimbabweans support them.

"What do they have to
fear from a genuine open process, free and fair election, open and
transparent vote count, as well as observed process? If that claim is true,
what are they hiding and who are they hiding it from? I remain perplexed
until they explain this contradiction."

He was also optimistic
because for the first time in its history, SADC appears to have found enough
courage to tackle one of their own after they took President Robert Mugabe
to task at the recent summit of the regional grouping in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania.

"The opposition," he said, "has advantages going into the
election. The dismal state of the economy is certianly the Achilles heels of
the government.

"It is however, wrong for Zimbabweans, whether
from Zanu PF or the opposition and civil society to think that the
international community can descend on Zimbabwe and resolve the crisis. We
can only help provide context, mechanism ... the real answers come from
within."

'Water train' could save Bulawayo

BULAWAYO - Residents might finally realise their 95-year-old
dream of drinking water from the mighty Zambezi River if the city's
remaining supply dams dry up in October, as widely expected.

But the precious liquid would not be delivered by the government-trumpeted
Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (MZWP) first conceived in
1912.

The council is actively considering the use of a train
travelling over 400km to the famed Victoria Falls Bridge at the border with
Zambia to draw water from the Zambezi River.

Outgoing town
clerk, Moffat Ndlovu, told journalists at a press conference that the "water
train" was one of the options the council was actively considering, which
also included the equipping of boreholes within the city "although the
option is a bit rural".

'We are considering introducing a water
train from the Zambezi . . . we are very serious about it," Ndlovu said. "It
will just go to the Zambezi River and draw water on the bridge. We will
purify it and distribute it to residents . . . It's a
possibility."

He said the uncertainty surrounding the Zimbabwe
National Water Authority (ZINWA)'s takeover of the city's water and sewerage
infrastructure was also scaring away investors who might want to help
alleviate what could turn out to be the worst water crisis in the history of
the city.

"The non-governme-ntal organisations are saying: what if
we come in and the government takes over the infrastructure?" he
said.

The council has applied to the government to declare Bulawayo
a water shortage area, which could be another way of alleviating the water
problem.

"The international community will come in, as they did
during the 1992 drought when the Norwegians sunk boreholes at the
Nyamandlovu aquifer," Ndlovu said.

But the majority of the 77
boreholes at the aquifer are no longer functioning after ZINWA took over
their management. The aquifer has the capacity to supply 26 000 cubic metres
of water a day which is about two thirds of the requirements for residents
of the high-density suburbs, but only 20 boreholes are
operational.

Ndlovu said the government had contributed to the
crisis in Bulawayo by failing to build alternative water sources as the city
expanded. Two dams have already dried up and the remaining three did not
receive any inflows during the 2006/7 rainy season which is drawing to a
close.

Police accused as cases of opposition bashing pile up

Zim Standard

BY
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE

POLICE seem reluctant to institute investigations
in to cases where opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) members
and human rights activists have either been assaulted or killed by suspected
State security agents, the opposition party has said.

Several
cases involving the beatings and killings of people suspected to be
anti-government remain a puzzle, some dating back to seven years.

MDC anti-Senate secretary-general, Tendai Biti, said last week they had long
lost confidence in the police because they never investigated their
complaints.

"Now we don't expect anything from a criminal
state," Biti said. "They cannot investigate the cases because all what is
happening is State terrorism; it's sponsored by the State."

He
said the people who planned the attempted murder of Kuwadzana legislator
Nelson Chamisa at the Harare International Airport were known but the police
were turning a blind eye to the case.

Chamisa was assaulted at the
airport by known assailants on his way to a parliamentary business trip in
Brussels.

The other more recent cases include the sending of a live
bullet to the offices of The Standard two months ago and the murder of
former Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation cameraman and technician, Edward
Chikomba.

Chikomba was abducted from his home in Harare and his
body was later found dumped by the roadside near Darwendale, about 60km
away.

It is widely believed that Chikomba was murdered for
allegedly transmitting the images of a battered MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai
to the international media.

Tsvangirai had been severely
assaulted while in police custody.

The Standard deputy editor Bill
Saidi said the police had not updated the newspaper on the investigations
into the bullet incident.

"They just came here asked me and a few
other people questions. That was the last time I heard from them," Saidi
said.

Other outstanding cases include the bombing of the MDC
headquarters in Harare in 2000, the bombing of the offices of Voice of the
People Radio in 2002 and The Daily News printing press in 2001.

"Look at all these cases," said Biti. "No one has been arrested and the
police are silent about them. It sends signals that they are part of
Mugabe's plot to eliminate the opposition."

MDC activists
Talent Mabika and Tichaona Chiminya were murdered in cold blood in 2000 but
the suspects remain free despite mounting local and international pressure
for them to be prosecuted.

State supplies stale food

Zim Standard

By Kholwani Nyathi

BULAWAYO - The government reportedly supplied stale "maize soya blend" for a
supplementary feeding programme after the city council raised concern about
the increasing number of people dying of malnutrition-related medical
complications, The Standard has learnt.

According to a report
by the Bulawayo city council's health, housing and education committee,
560kg of maize soya blend for feeding children under five years old deemed
vulnerable to malnutrition were destroyed after they were found to be "unfit
for human consumption" by health inspectors.

The Ministry of Health
and Child Welfare had supplied 500 bags of 10kg soya blend to feed 561
vulnerable children following concerns raised by the city
council.

Last month, the council raised concern that more people
were dying of malnutrition-related illnesses in the city as a result of the
deteriorating economic situation in the country.

The
government's intervention was intended to address the problem but the
council condemned the food.

"About 56 bags of the blend were
inconsumable, as they had weevils and moulds," reads the report. "The health
inspectorate declared the blend unfit for consumption and it was
destroyed."

The government has declared 2007 a drought year but
continues to claim that no one would be allowed to die of hunger as enough
grain is being imported to cover the shortfall.

But the Mayor
of Bulawayo, Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube, has said the number of deaths attributed
to malnutrition was an indication of worsening urban poverty and appealed to
non-governmental organisations to step in.

In its report, the
council noted that care givers were reluctant to prepare food, demanding
payment for their services.

"Care-givers have been reluctant to
come to the clinics to prepare the food, expressing concern that their
children were also hungry at home," said the report. "There is a lot of
economic pressure forcing the care-givers to seek income- generating
projects elsewhere."

The southern parts of the country have been
facing serious food shortages since last year, resulting in the emergence of
a parallel market in basic commodities.

The council said eight
people died of malnutrition in December alone and their ages ranged from the
newly born to 70 years.

Malnutrition is caused by lack of a
balanced diet.

There was no immediate official comment from the
Ministry of Health and Child Welfare but a Child Welfare official in
Matabeleland North said the council had not informed them that some of the
food was stale.

Soldiers harrass pedestrians

Harare residents are now taking
longer routes to avoid passing near the studios where the soldiers are
alleged to have become vicious with passers-by, especially during the
evening.

The Standard last week heard that the soldiers either beat
up people or ordered them to roll in pools of stagnant water.

Temerity Gunidza of Mbare sells fruit in the Workington heavy industrial
area. He said while passing near the studios, the soldiers accused him of
being a member of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)'s so-called
democratic resistance committees (DRCs).

They accused him of
responsibility for the current spate of petrol bombings.

"This
was despite the fact that I was actually pushing my cart back home," he
said. "They ate some of my bananas before they forced me to roll in the
dirty water."

Gunidza said a motorist whose car had broken down at
the corner of Simon Mazorodze Road and Remembrance Drive was ordered to join
him in the "swimming pool".

Before they were released they were
warned never again to walk near the ZBH fence.

Even commuters
to Glen View, Glen Norah, Highfield and Budiriro, who would normally wait
for transport at the corner of the two roads, have abandoned the "bus stop"
during the evenings.

Most of them now board buses at a service
station just after the Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital, some 300m
away, fearing the wrath of the soldiers. Abel Munemo of Budiriro, who used
to board a bus home near the ZBH studios, said: "It's no longer safe for
anyone to wait for transport at that corner because you might be
unfortunate.

"Initially, we preferred the corner because we would
get the protection of the soldiers from thieves. Now, we are running away
from the soldiers, not the thieves."

Even soccer supporters,
returning from a match between Highlanders and Monomotapa football clubs
last Sunday were not spared the soldiers' harassment.

"We had
to run away when they started to advance towards us," said a journalist, who
had covered the match. "They would not allow anyone to walk near the ZBH
security fence."

Zimbabwe National Army spokesperson, Simon Tsatsi,
said he had not received complaints of assault or harassment against
soldiers guarding ZBH premises.

He said residents with
complaints should report immediately to the police or the army public
relations department to enable them to quickly conduct
investigations.

"It's not ZNA policy to beat up residents. I would
like to urge people to report such cases so that the culprits can be brought
to book," Tsatsi said.

He said the soldiers guarding ZBH
premises were only there to assist the police.

Reports of
residents being assaulted by soldiers near ZBH premises in Mbare come at a
time when many people have been abducted and tortured by State security
agents.

Photographer sues ministry over equipment

Zim Standard

BY WALTER
MARWIZI

FORMER Daily News chief photographer Tsvangirai Mukwazhi is
suing the Ministry of Home Affairs over the disappearance of his expensive
photographic equipment that he alleges was seized by the police a month
ago.

Mukwazhi was arrested in Highfield on 11 March while covering
a prayer meeting organised by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign.

Lawyers for the freelance photojournalist, allegedly brutalised by the
police while in custody, have notified the ministry of his action to recover
his property.

The police confiscated Mukwazhi's vehicle, a
digital camera and a laptop after accusing him of inciting violence. They
then detained him at Machipisa police station where he was beaten up and
only released a few days later following a High Court order.

Mukwazhi said when he tried to claim his property back, the police
threatened to charge him with working without accreditation. The charges
failed to stick after Mukwazhi produced his Media and Information Commission
(MIC) accreditation card.

Since last month, Mukwazhi has been
battling to recover his equipment, valued at more than US$10
000.

Mukwazhi's lawyer, Harrison Nkomo of Mtetwa and Nyambirai,
last week wrote to the Ministry of Home Affairs demanding the return of the
equipment without delay.

In a letter of demand addressed to the
Deputy Secretary (Finance and Administration), Nkomo said it was clear his
client's property "was either stolen by your officers or they are
deliberately refusing to hand them to our client for reasons best known to
them".

The letter was copied to the Commissioner of Police, the
Minister of Home Affairs, Officer in Charge and the Civil Division of the
Attorney General's office.

"Our instructions are to demand, as
we hereby do, the return of all the above mentioned property belonging to
our client as a matter of urgency, failing which we shall proceed to issue
summons without further notice to you," Nkomo said.

Mukwazhi
said without the equipment he could not work. He freelances for a number of
organisations.

Foster Dongozi, the secretary general of the
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, condemned the police action against
Mukwazhi.

"More horrifying was the recent abduction and murder of
former ZBC cameraman, Edward Chikomba and the subsequent arrests of Mukwazhi
and Gift Phiri (of the newspaper The Zimbabwean) who was tortured while in
police cells.

"We condemn the police officers especially for
harassing Mukwazhi despite the fact that he produced his official press
card. I telephoned Information minister, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu to register our
disgust at the treatment of journalists and he said the government did not
sanction the ill treatment of journalists. We are yet to be convinced,"
Dongozi said.

SA doctors slam Zim state agents

THE South African Medical Association has condemned attempts by state agents
to prevent opposition activists from getting medical treatment.

In
a statement, SAMA chairperson, Dr Kgosi Letlape, said it was unacceptable
that doctors were prevented from treating people who were beaten up or
tortured by state agents.

"Doctors' autonomy and independence is a
firm principle which is entrenched in national and international policies,
such as the World Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics and Declaration
on Professional Autonomy and Self Regulation," he said.

"The
Hippocratic Oath will not allow us to compromise these principles and
doctors in all countries must be allowed to treat patients in need of
medical attention, and to practise medicine without the fear of
violence."

Letlape's comments came after state agents prevented MDC
officials from getting medical attention.

"SAMA has always
advocated for the protection and promotion of human rights, irrespective of
individuals' political affiliations. The allegations relating to denial of
access to health care are serious since this is a fundamental human right
and entitlement of every person," Letlape said.

He said his
organisation was aware of the plight of the people of Zimbabwe not only
through media headlines but also through the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors
for Human Rights (ZADHR).

Zimdollar drop: speculators blamed

GOVERNMENT and monetary authorities should take measures
to weed out speculators involved in fuelling the depreciation of the
Zimbabwe dollar on the parallel market, Standardbusiness has
learnt.

In separate interviews with Standardbusiness, economists
said speculative activity on the black market fuelled the untamed price
hikes of basic commodities, which made life harder for the already hard-hit
consumer.

The call came after the phenomenal surge of the exchange
rate on the parallel market for the month of March, whereby the US$ changed
hands at Z$35 000:US$1. The fixed official rate is $250.

The
depreciation was accompanied by a spate of price increases in retail
shops.

Economists said the recent development contrasted sharply
with previous data that showed the Zimdollar had been depreciating at modest
levels on the parallel market.

The Zimdollar traded at Z$2
000:US$1 in December last year, Z$3 000:US$1 in January and Z$5 000:US$1 in
February this year.

"The recent increase was unnatural, especially
when compared with previous levels and this points to a significant
development in the market which led to the high price," an economist with
Kingdom Financial Holdings said.

"Possibly, someone has been
buying foreign currency in bulk and this is harmful to the economy, as it
translates into even higher prices being passed on to the
consumer."

Fuel dealers emerged as chief suspects while some
circles implicated the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

But RBZ
governor, Gideon Gono has dismissed as false all claims implicating his
bank.

The Zimbabwe dollar is understood to have appreciated by at
least 75% with new prices pegged around Z$16 000.

But
economists warned the slump should not be taken to mean an improvement in
the economy, as it only indicated that the suspected buyer was now out of
the market.

Although the figure cannot be drawn back to the
February levels, responsible authorities should take corrective measures to
curb such developments in the future, said the economists.

They
said opening up more avenues of generating foreign currency and giving
producers a fair exchange rate would help avert speculative
tendencies.

Cross-border traders lose out to new duty

Zim Standard

By Nqobani
Ndlovu

BULAWAYO - Cross-border traders caught unawares by new
customs regulations introduced by the government last week lost goods worth
millions of dollars after they failed to pay duty, The Standard has
established.

On 5 April, the government, through Statutory
Instrument 80A of 2007, announced that importers of cars and other luxury
goods must pay duty and Value Added Tax (VAT) in foreign
currency.

The announcement came a day before the Easter holidays,
when returning residents were trekking home from South Africa and
Botswana.

At the Plumtree border post, a number of returning
Zimbabweans told The Standard on Thursday their goods were confiscated by
the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority after they failed to pay duty for groceries
and goods for resale classified as "luxury".

ZIMRA officials
said warehouses at the busy border posts were full of goods impounded last
week after the owners, mostly cross-border traders failed to pay import
duty.

Official Zimra comment could however not be
obtained.

"We were caught by surprise and now I have lost all my
wares," said Themba Ndlovu of Emgwanwini in Bulawayo who lost the jackets he
wanted to bring into the country for resale. "I have to start again and I
don't know where I will get the capital to get my business going once
more."

Most traders were taking advantage of the overvalued
Zimbabwean dollar to import cars, clothing and other luxury goods for resale
while paying a pittance in taxes.

Some of the goods classified
as luxury include trunks and suitcases, leather goods, like handbags and
clothing, cigarettes, tobacco, fur skin clothing, tableware and kitchenware
made of wood, mirrors, and wooden frames among others.

Meanwhile, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) described the
move by government to demand import duty in foreign currency as an admission
of lack of confidence in the local currency.

"This is a reflection
of the lack of confidence in the local currency and an admission that our
currency has become worthless. It's a sign of desperation on the part of the
government in terms of getting foreign currency," said Mfandaidza Hove,
secretary for economic affairs in the anti-Senate MDC.

RBZ fails to pay gold producers

Zim Standard

By Jennifer
Dube

THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is allegedly failing to
pay for gold remitted to Fidelity Printers and Refiners, resulting in most
gold producers not receiving payment for gold remitted in January, it has
emerged.

In a circular to stakeholders, accompanying a report
on the mineral output for this year, the Chamber of Mines said the central
bank had been battling to make the payments since last year.

"Since October last year, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has been experiencing
severe difficulties in paying gold producers for gold lodged with Fidelity
Printers and Refiners," the report said. "As of the beginning of April, most
gold producers were not paid for gold lodged in January. The delays have
impacted negatively on production."

The chamber reported that
delayed payment and a misaligned exchange rate had "understandably combined
to create a viability crunch that is threatening the very existence of the
gold industry in Zimbabwe".

Available statistics show that gold
remitted to the RBZ in February declined to 768kg from 819kg in
January.

In an interview, Chamber of Mines chief executive, David
Murangari said the decline was partly attributable to the recent crackdown
on small-scale miners.

Murangari said owing to delays in
payment, both local and foreign suppliers were now demanding cash upfront
for goods and services provided to miners.

"At the current
exchange rate, we have a big mismatch between operating costs and returns.
The price of $15 000 per gram has to be reviewed upwards if miners are to
benefit from the international price of US$650 per ounce," he
said.

The $15 000/gram price has been in place since last October
despite the increase of "basically everything" on the local
market.

The RBZ referred all questions to Fidelity Printers and
Refiners, who, when contacted for comment, referred all questions back to
the central bank.

Zim Standard Comment

THE one day most Zimbabweans - particularly those
in urban areas - dread most is 18 April, ironically an occasion most people
are supposed to celebrate the advent of Independence and all that's supposed
to come with it.

In urban areas whole suburbs such as Mbare
will be emptied of their residents on Wednesday as they are corralled into
Rufaro Stadium.

They will be expected to be there at daybreak.
Similarly, residents in other suburbs will be herded very early into
commandeered buses bound for the venue of this year's Independence
anniversary celebrations for an event that is supposed to kick-off after
mid-morning.

Residents of Mbare and the market traders, in
particular, will wish the event passes quickly. That these harassed
Zimbabweans are at their wits' end over how to fend for their families will
be of no concern to the ruling party's commissars, whose pre-occupation will
be to fill up the stadium and impress their masters.

Of less
concern to the ruling party will be the self-evident truth that they are
responsible for bringing the country to its knees, that they are the
architects of our misery with per capita GDP levels down to those last seen
in the early 1950s.

Instead, the residents, many of whom will have
woken up to no electricity and water, will be expected to endure hours of
hollow rhetoric that heaps the record-breaking 2 000% inflation and nearly
80% unemployment rate on anyone but our rulers.

In fact, Rufaro
Stadium Independence celebrations will signal the start of the ruling
party's 2008 elections campaign even though the festivities should be a
national event to reflect on achievements since April 1980.

The
celebrations will ring hollow because the govern-ment and the ruling party
have made a mockery of the goals of the struggle for Independence and
betrayed the values for which so many thousands of freedom fighters paid the
supreme sacrifice.

Annually the celebrations exhort belt-tightening
but the majority of Zimbabweans are aware that each year brings more misery
and hardships. Since the mid-1990s the only thing the government has to show
for is its unbroken record of spectacular failures. Electricity, fuel and
water supplies have collapsed while productive capacity has almost ceased to
exist. Whole cities and towns have been villagised.

Zimbabweans
may have attained political Independence, but all their other freedoms have
been systematically eroded by the government to the extent most citizens
question whether Independence can be equated with record high unemployment,
greater hardships, widespread shortages of basic commodities and
unprecedented levels of impoverishment, collapse of the health and education
sectors and a rapidly shrinking industrial base.

Comparisons with
the situation and conditions at the attainment of Independence have become
increasingly inescapable.

Residents of Mbare in particular and
Harare in general will dread Wednesday because they are only too well aware
that each event that has celebrated Independence has taken them further away
from the Promised Land. Zimbabwe in 2007 is a land of fear where opponents
of the regime are abducted and tortured.

People will dread
Wednesday more because they have listened to the rosy pictures the
politicians paint since 1980 with little change to their lives except
descent into penury. That's what is surreal about Independence
celebrations

Mbeki shelters Bemba: others get words

PIERRE Mulele's name will live forever in the bloody
history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mulele was a
rebel. There have been many rebels in that country. Cynics believe you can
divide the DRC into "the people and the rebels".

The story of
Mulele: after fighting the regime of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, he was
invited to Kinshasa for talks.

Mulele must have believed the people
of Zaire had seen enough bloodshed. Peace talks with Mobutu seemed
logical.

He was killed before the talks got under way.

Sympathisers have opined that Mulele ought to have been forewarned. Mobutu's
record of skulduggery, beginning with the betrayal of Patrice Lumumba, was
worse than Quisling's was for co-operating with the enemy.

Others
say Mulele was naive. He believed God did not create bad human beings. In
every bad human being was a good human being struggling to come
out.

Such people believe Ian Douglas Smith was also a good
person, with difficulty expressing himself in a way other people could
understand him.

The problem was his language bore too many
similarities with the language of another man in history, Adolf
Hitler.

Years later, both Smith's and Hitler's language would be
likened to that of another man of history, Robert Gabriel
Mugabe.

Anthony Gizenga, once a Lumumba loyalist, was a rebel too.
Unlike another famous former Congolese rebel, he is firmly ensconced in the
government of Joseph Kabila, whose father, Laurent, was once a rebel who
triumphed over Mobutu and ruled the country, albeit very briefly. He had
avoided the fate of Mulele by fighting until the very end.

Kabila, like Lumumba, was killed while in office. His was not an execution,
as Lumumba's was. It was an assassination.

Such is the fascinating,
if slightly gory political history of the DRC.

The rebel
mentioned earlier is Jean-Pierre Bemba. He was in the government of Joseph
Kabila, as deputy president. But then they fell out and Kabila sent his
soldiers to sort him out. That mission was not accomplished with style or
subtlety, for it left 200 people dead, most of them loyalists of
Bemba's.

Kabila was not finished. He wanted Bemba arrested for high
treason.

The rebel instinct in Bemba told him it was time to fade
from the scene, before Kabila could perform a version of "the Mulele" on
him. He sought sanctuary in the South African embassy in Kinshasa. They
sheltered him for weeks, until he was allowed to leave the country for
treatment in Portugal, not for any bullet wounds, apparently.

Kabila could do little to worm him out of the SA embassy, which is not,
diplomatically speaking, part of the DRC: it's SA territory.

So,
the rebel triumphed, although he may never return to the land of his birth -
unless Kabila relents, or is himself killed by another rebel, not
necessarily because they are sympathetic to Bemba, but just for the hell of
it.

The DRC is like that: life is cheap, which is probably why
President Thabo Mbeki felt he had to intervene like the Good Samaritan that
he has tried to be in the Sudan, in Burundi, in the Ivory Coast - but, alas,
not in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe's crisis has not degenerated to the
bloody depths of the other trouble spots.

It's probably not
because Zimbabweans are more civilised or peace loving.

Certainly, not because they are more content with their lot than the
brothers and sisters in those other poor countries Mbeki is trying to
help.

Mbeki, it is said, has been able to deal with all the other
leaders because they are not 83 years old, old enough to be his father, the
venerated Govani Mbeki, author of The Peasants' Revolt.

That
book was never elevated by aficionados of revolutionary literature to the
same level as The Communist Manifesto, but Govani blazed a trail, as did
Ndabaningi Sithole with African Nationalism.

Kabila is much younger
than Mbeki, although behind his power stand former comrades-in-arms of his
father who cherish the Kabila name and are getting filthy rich into the
bargain.

This is the DRC: Mobutu Sese Seko built an opulent palace
for himself in his home area, before he was forced to flee the
country.

Would Mbeki send his soldiers into Zimbabwe if Mugabe's
regime was threatened by disaffected middle-rank officers? He probably
would.

An eternity ago - it now seems - Mbeki was in Zimbabwe on
this perennial Mission Impossible, trying to bring together these two
political parties led by two people from different eras of Time: The Cold
War and The Global Village.

What most people remember must be
the bewildered sight of Mbeki as he looked at Joseph Chinotimba. The SA
president seemed to wonder: Was this weird-looking man part of the Mugabe
delegation? Or The Court Jester? An intruder?

The impression
many of us gleaned from Chinotimba's presence was that Mugabe wished for
Mbeki to know that his "people" were not the clean-cut, suave politicians
who could fit easily at an international conference in any hotel in London
or Paris.

His people were "down-to-earth" and could not speak a
single correct sentence of English.

They were not stooges of
the West - he wanted to say.

After absorbing the implications of
this scenario, Mbeki decided Mugabe was not ready for dialogue with the MDC.
Mugabe may never be ready for dialogue with the MDC. He oozes with such
contempt for them it seems he can hardly stand them.

If he ever
consents to dialogue with them, it could turn out to be a three-ring circus
- in a huge ballroom with chandeliers over a huge conference table, at the
top of which he will preside, Zeus-like. An army band would be on a raised
stage, playing all Mugabe's favourites from the days of the struggle, among
them Mbuya Nehanda.

I doubt even he would contemplate a huge
"Mulele" finale to the proceedings.

But I suspect the
opposition people would come away convinced there would be no real dialogue
with the man in his lifetime.

Which probably makes you wonder if
they have to create the proper circumstances for Mugabe to listen to them,
or for Mbeki to treat the crisis in Zimbabwe as seriously as he treats the
others.

As someone once said famously, this is a scene too ghastly
to contemplate.

State brutality must end in Zimbabwe

I HAVE just come back from two weeks home in Zimbabwe
and my heart is sore. I am troubled by what is going on, much of it away
from the glare of local and international media.

Zimbabweans
are under siege from a political leadership that fought to liberate them
from colonial oppression. And I am afraid that the current oppressors are
proving to be no different in their tactics and cruelty from Ian Smith's
settler regime.

Because of the absence of an independent daily
press and private radio and television outlets, many Zimbabweans are totally
oblivious of the reign of terror that President Robert Mugabe has unleashed
on the opposition and civil society activists. However, the victims of this
violence are telling their story and the word is spreading, and so is
fear.

In certain instances there has not been any attempt to mask
the violence as happened in broad daylight at Mbare Musika bus terminus and
Fourth Street commuter rendezvous on the eve of the Easter holiday. In both
instances riot police armed to the teeth randomly assaulted people waiting
for transport to their holiday destinations for no reason. There have been
countless other instances of indiscriminate police and army violence against
civilians.

The government media pretends all is well and
completely ignores the State-sponsored terror. The independent press is
handicapped in telling the unfolding orgy of state violence by being
weekly.

Since the arrest and the brutal attack on Morgan Tsvangirai
and other Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) officials, President Mugabe's
government has unleashed a ferocious campaign of violence against
journalists, political and civil society activists.

Evidence
indicates that he has set up a paramilitary unit whose main brief is to
abduct, torture and murder opposition activists and unarmed civilians. This
is the same unit that has embarked on a petrol-bombing campaign whose main
purpose is to portray the opposition MDC as a terrorist organisation.
Fortunately only the insanely gullible have been taken in by this propaganda
ploy.

There is practically an undeclared state of emergency in the
townships where after dusk residents venture outside their homes at great
risk. Initially this terror campaign was concentrated in and around Harare
but is spreading countrywide. Gangs of heavily armed state thugs prowl the
townships hunting for their targets in unmarked vehicles. It is believed
these are the same people that assaulted MDC spokesman and MP Nelson Chamisa
at Harare International Airport three weeks back.

The petrol
bombing campaign has also been used to trump up charges against opposition
elements that have been abducted and tortured in police detention to try and
extract evidence from them. Senior MDC officials like Ian Makone and Last
Maengahama have been victims of this campaign.

While the MDC are
not angels, few believe they have the capacity to organise the alleged
bombing campaigns.

So far one television journalist, Edward
Chikomba and an MDC activist, Gift Tandare, have been abducted, tortured and
murdered. Another journalist, Gift Phiri, was abducted and tortured after
being accused of involvement in the spree of bombings. At the last count,
over 600 people were known to have been beaten and some tortured in
detention and the figure continues to rise. Indications are that
approximately 30 people a day are admitted to hospitals around the country
mostly at night and mornings, following brutal assaults under the cover of
darkness. The poorly equipped and cash-strapped state hospitals are failing
to cope and the MDC this week launched an appeal for funding and medication
to take care of its members.

All this violence is seen as evidence
that President Mugabe, who boasts of "degrees in violence", has launched his
2008 election campaign. Since he has nothing to offer the electorate his
powers of persuasion are limited to violence. It worked for him during
Zimbabwe's liberation struggle, in Matabeleland in 1982-1987 and he is sure
this tried and tested strategy will not fail him. This is the same violence
witnessed in the run-up to the 2000 and 2002 parliamentary and presidential
elections respectively in the name of land reform.

The purpose
of this violence is to intimidate and it is working. The vigilante groups
aim to break the backbone of trade unions and paralyse MDC's structures.
There is a palpable sense of fear across Zimbabwe. The assault on Tsvangirai
sent a clear message that nobody is out of reach. And the public is
justified in asking: "If they can do it to Morgan who am I to try and stand
up to the regime?"

Thus the rigging of the March 2008 parliamentary
and presidential elections has started in earnest. The campaign of violence
11 months ahead of the elections, the repressive and punitive media laws, an
undemocratic Electoral Act and an oppressive Public Order and Security Act
are all vital ingredients in Zanu PF and Mugabe's road to
victory.

Yet the situation is most likely to get worse before the
elections. This is no environment to conduct democratic elections. But it is
opportune for President Thabo Mbeki who has been mandated by Sadc to broker
talks between Zanu PF and the MDC. It should open his eyes to the enormity
of the task that lies ahead for him.

So what is the way
forward?

The wave of State-sponsored terror must be brought to an
end before President Mbeki gets the talks going. Mbeki, with the backing of
Sadc, must seek to have a broad based national dialogue that includes church
leaders, business, trade unions and other civil society players. A durable
solution to Zimbabwe's problems requires the involvement of more players
beyond Zanu PF and MDC.

Mugabe is itching for a fight and would
love for MDC to respond in kind to enable him to kill once and for all the
national democratic project. He has the instruments of the State to do this.
It must be remembered that Mugabe has vowed that the MDC will never rule
Zimbabwe for as long as he is alive. He is prepared to do anything to
achieve this goal. The danger though is that were violence to spin out of
control there is no guarantee he would have his way.

When the
violence has been quelled, Mugabe must be asked to disband his private
militia and stop recruiting war veterans into a reserve army, which is
essentially a personal army. The national youth militia, commonly known as
the "Green Bombers", must be disbanded. Central to the conduct of a free and
fair election is the repeal of repressive media and public security laws
which infringe on freedom of expression and assembly.

The Electoral
Act will have to be reviewed and all electoral functions taken away from
state security operatives. A transparent voter education and registration
exercise must be put in motion to include Zimbabweans in the Diaspora. All
military personnel currently heading state companies and other organisations
will have to be sent back to the barracks or retired.

As part of
his strategy for victory in March 2008 Mugabe has announced that he plans to
expand the House of Assembly and the newly created Senate from 150 to 210
and 66 to 84 respectively. He must be dissuaded from embarking on this
self-serving project whose sole purpose is to reward the Zanu PF faithful
and continue to abuse the rural electorate.

In the past Mugabe has
used promises of talks with the MDC as a ruse to buy himself time and he
must not be allowed to do this again. For these talks to be successful,
Mugabe would have to concede a lot of ground on the stumbling blocks to a
free and fair election.

The media laws, the electoral act, the
violence and intimidation and the security laws have been pivotal in his
winning elections this far and to do away with them would be akin to
committing political hara-kiri. I doubt that Mugabe is ready to negotiate
himself out of office. Without these key pillars it is not possible for
Mugabe to win a free and fair election. This means that these negotiations
will be sticky if they do take off at all.

Indeed if the list of
concessions sought sounds like a surrender document, it is because over the
years Mugabe has heavily loaded the political dice in his favour and this
simply needs to be undone. It is not likely that stubborn Mugabe will
succumb to this, thus setting the stage for stillborn talks and
controversial elections next year. But there is no harm in giving the talks
a chance.

The current violence must be brought to an end not as a
condition for the talks but simply because it is barbaric and does not
belong to the future the majority of Zimbabweans desire. It goes against
everything SADC and President Mbeki and his African Renaissance project
stand for, and must be rejected and condemned in the strongest
terms.

Trevor Ncube is the Chairman of The Zimbabwe
Independent and The Standard newspapers and Chief Executive of the Mail
& Guardian. email:trevorn@mg.co.za

The President's missing clothes

Zim Standard

Reflections with DR Alex T
Magaisa

ONE of the great mistakes we make, especially when we sit
in high positions, is to misread the way the rest of the people perceive us.
In the intoxicating atmosphere of supposed glory, we often get to a point
where the line between cheers and jeers becomes blurred and we cannot
separate commendation from condemnation. On these occasions, we often
consider manic reactions as support even if, in reality, we are the subjects
of ridicule. It does not help when there are sycophants who simply hang
around, giving an incorrect interpretation of people's thoughts and
feelings.

It seems to me that President Mugabe's decision to stand
for another term of office is not only astounding given the country's
circumstances under his 27-year leadership, but could fall in this class of
human misjudgements. When those women of Zanu PF's Women's League become
hysterical in his presence, urging him to go on, are they really cheering
him to glory? When the hangers-on advise him to go on, are they not really
placing him on display, for all to watch and ridicule, while they get on
with their nefarious activities?

Years ago, when I was in
primary school, there was a hefty fellow called Office. I do not know why
his parents gave him that odd name, suffice to say, that it takes pride of
place in a rare breed of names that one is only likely to find in Zimbabwe.
Names like, Never, Forget, Opportunity, Nobody, Eclipse, et al. Perhaps the
name owed its origins to the circumstances of his conception. The older
folks pronounced his name as Hofisi, while the rest generally adopted the
phonetic, Ofisi.

Office was a big fellow whose exact age was
generally the subject of a great deal of doubt and playground speculation.
Some said his birth certificate had been altered and that he was, in fact,
five years older. Others who claimed to know him well said he had a wife and
children. Word had gone round too, that he had been a comrade (freedom
fighter) during the liberation war, though, it must be said, the presence of
former fighters at school in the early 1980s was not an unusual
phenomenon.

Office was blessed with an athletic physique, which
invariably gave him physical superiority over fellow competitors on the
sporting field. He was a supreme athlete whose prowess was known across the
region. He had a number of limitations in the classroom but he more than
made up for it on the sporting field. He was a hero.

On one
fine Saturday, an inter-schools athletics competition was held at the school
grounds and as usual, Office was the centre of attention. Respected and
feared by friends and foes alike, Office hogged the limelight. But not even
Office could have prepared himself for the extra attention that he drew that
day, during the 200m sprint event. What happened in that race has become the
stuff of legend, re-told over the years with the customary additional
spice.

You see, in those days, the popular attire for athletes was
a vest and a type of shorts that was commonly referred to as adidas. I do
not know if it has any relation to the popular Adidas brand, but I recall
that those shorts were very small and were designed in a way that did not
provide sufficient cover, and I do not think they were suitable for the big
boys. The shorts were particularly susceptible to a wardrobe malfunction.
This risk of a wardrobe malfunction was especially heightened if one did not
wear an under-garment. In the poor communities, under-garments for boys were
almost a luxury, even for big boys like Office.

Now, as Office
worked the bend in the 200m race he was clearly in the lead and spectators
were cheering him on. But the volume of cheers increased dramatically; in
fact it became wild. "Ofisi! Ofisi! Ofisi!", the chants reverberated in the
packed ground as the hero surged ahead. Clearly propelled by the noisy
reception, Office upped the pace, waving his hands in the air
ecstatically.

But poor Office did not realise that the heightened
excitement owed not so much to his display of athletic talent on the track
but to the fact that the adidas short had literally given way. Office had
not noticed the wardrobe malfunction, which was the centre of the crowd's
attention and the cause of wild excitement. He simply thought they were
cheering him on for his efforts on the track. Instead, he was the laughing
stock, but he went on, blissfully unaware of his circumstances.

ometimes in life, like Office, we misinterpret the reaction of those around
us and think that we are being praised and cheered on when, in fact, we are
the subject of ridicule and fun. Sometimes it seems to me that the Zanu PF
leadership, like Office, misread the reaction of the people. The wild
excitement at gatherings may not necessarily be a show of support for the
great things that they think they have done. Sometimes, they are the subject
of laughter and ridicule.

The story of Office reminds me of Hans
Christian Andersen's great tale entitled The Emperor's New
Clothes.

Believing that he was wearing new clothes, the royal
procession went on, the Emperor hogging the limelight, savouring the cheers
and praise from crowds of supporters lining up the streets. All of them
could see that the Emperor had no clothes; that he was naked but they also
pretended to be of pure heart and spirit, they pretended to see and praise
the Emperor's new clothes. So, in fact, the Emperor paraded himself naked to
his people, all deluded that he was wearing new clothes, believing that only
those of pure heart and spirit could see. This extraordinary spectacle would
have gone on but for an innocent child who exclaimed, for all to hear, that
the Emperor had no clothes!

The nomination of President Mugabe
to stand for Zanu PF, in next year's Presidential election, sounds to me
like a similar case of the ruler getting too enamoured with himself and the
people around him joining in and pretending to see what in fact is not
there. The officials who inspected the fellows weaving the magical cloth for
the Emperor, reporting that they had seen the most beautiful cloth, could
well be Mugabe's ministers and coterie of admirers who continue to tell him
that he has been doing so great and that the problems of Zimbabwe are not of
their own making but can be blamed solely on Western sanctions and drought.
They can see the disaster but they pretend to see something else that they
would like to believe.

The people who lined up the streets and
cheered the Emperor in a state of nakedness, pretending to be smitten by his
non-existent new clothes, could well be the Zanu PF Women's League, who
sing, dance and ululate for Gushungo, urging him to go on, pretending to see
all that is great and beautiful when in fact there is very little they
see.

But there are also many children, who can see and point out
that in fact, the President is being paraded without clothes. VaMugabe had
better listen to the voices of those children, whose cry is only for his
good and that of the country.

Zim Standard Letters

Let's direct anger at source of woes WHILE I
appreciate the recent public outcry at the manner in which the Zimbabwe
Football Association (Zifa) has presided over the misfortunes of the
national squad, I believe it is not totally fair to blame Zifa for
everything that is happening in football.

Reserve Bank Governor, Dr
Gideon Gono, in his monetary policy review also pointed out the folly of
laying all failure on the governor's doorstep while ignoring the causes
behind the whole scenario.

However, the "wise" governor shot
himself in the foot by blaming Zifa's problems on "mismanagement". Perhaps
he meant someone else's mismanagement.

There is a Russian proverb,
which says: "Fish rots from the head downwards." Everything in Zimbabwe is
rotten. In 1980, soon after we achieved our independence, you could feel a
kind of euphoria in the air. We felt like the Israelites after they had just
crossed the Red Sea. Alas! We did not realise that we were entering the
desert.

True, once in a while we have a "miracle". A few quails and
some manna fell here and there but sometimes the miracle waters would be
better like those of "Mara". We failed to realise in 1980 that the
Revolution was not in leaving Egypt but in getting into Canaan.

Today, 27 years along the way we are despondent and dejected. Those of us
who cannot run fast enough to catch quails are suffering and the manna,
falling occasionally, must be queued for while the bitter water is
contaminated with effluent from malfunctioning sewer systems.

Aaron is dead and Moses is old. His vision has always been short and as
always he brags about taking us out of Egypt, which according to him and his
age mates and cronies was an end in itself. Unlike the Biblical Moses,
however, our own Moses does not tolerate the idea of a Joshua succeeding
him. Indeed, he loves the country so much that he would rather destroy it
than part with it.

Now because of this the whole country has
collapsed. Every sector, every facet is not operating well at all. Zifa is
only a symptom of a general problem. I challenge anyone to tell me of a
single sector in this whole country which is not
malfunctioning.

Inasmuch as Gono refuses to accept all blame for
the country's woes so Zifa should not be the one to blame for the demise of
football in this country. Neither should we be shouting at Zifa only as if
it is the only institution that is in shambles.

What irks me is
the fact that people are ready to vent their anger on football. Yes, they
may throw a few stones in order to vent their anger, but they will still go
back home on empty stomachs to find their wives and children hungry and
miserable.

My question is: Why can we not vent that anger against
the real source of our problems? What this tells me is that there is enough
anger out there and we need someone to harness it and channel it in the
right direction.

We must remember that Paul was full of energy.
However, he used that energy wrongly with the full conviction of being
right. However on the road to Damascus he met someone and after conversion
he re-channelled his energy, turning him into one of the most influential
instruments of His word.

There is a lot of energy and anger out
there. My appeal is: Please someone channel that energy in the right
direction and we will make a change.

Reverend N
Khumalo

Epworth

Harare

-----------

Forex payment for luxury goods baffling THE
statutory instrument introducing the payment of duty for the so-called
luxury goods came as a surprise to many and it only shows the rhetoric of
President Robert Mugabe's regime.

On the one hand, the
government tells the country that the Western powers are the enemies of the
State, yet on the other hand they compromise the sovereignty of the country
by proclaiming the currencies of the so-called enemy countries are now
acceptable to pay for goods in Zimbabwe.

Sending used cars to those
back home was one way in which so many of the brothers and sisters in the
Diaspora were actually helping those back home, never mind those
Zimbabwe-based car dealers whose life was largely based on this line of
business.

All things being equal, the most sensible Zimbabwean
would simply stop importing cars thereby starving the fiscus of millions if
not billions in revenue. If the Government had encouraged this service, it
would have continued getting a lot of money - much more than what it is
dreaming of getting by charging for duty in foreign currency.

From experience, perhaps many people would not mind paying for the cars in
foreign currency if the system in Zimbabwe was transparent. The problem is
it's not. One will never know how much duty to pay until the car is at the
border; everything is down to the discretion on the assessing officer
(although they say in principle there is a formula in place).

The
system in use in other countries such as Ireland is transparent - duty is
calculated based on what is known as open market value for the car in
question. Everything is calculated by the computer, would-be importers can
pre-check the value of duty they can pay prior to importing cars.

This system is transparent, cuts out corruption or calculation of duty at
the discretion of the customs office. Through your paper, could you bring to
the attention of the powers that be systems that are in place in other
countries, e.g. www.ros.ie/VRTEnquiryServlet/ShowVRT.

Hope through your paper you will be able to influence policies in Zimbabwe
for the common good of the country.

Israel G
Chidavaenzi

Diaspora.

---------------

Cricketers will pay dearly

TRIVIA question on cricket: What
was the last team that Pakistani Captain Inzamam Ul Haq played against in
his long and distinguished One Day International cricket before he retired?
Answer -Zimbabwe!

Now here is a serious question. What
else, other than the distinction of playing against the great "Inzy" in his
final - and, under the circumstances, rather sad - appearance for Pakistan
did the Zimbabwe cricket team achieve during its somewhat abbreviated
Caribbean caper?

The answer to that depends upon which side
of the cricket's barbed wire fence you happen to sit on in Zimbabwe. As an
administrator, for example, or perhaps a member of the board of Zimbabwe
Cricket, you would probably not have noticed the ignominious nature of
Zimbabwe's dismissal from the Cricket World Cup 2007 after they failed to
win a single match, including the one against first-time entrants
Ireland.

You would probably have been too busy counting all
those American dollars that Zimbabwe was paid to appear on cricket's world
stage, albeit so briefly.

If, like me, you enjoy the game
of cricket and you were hoping against hope that this team of teenage
cricketers could pull something out of the hat - such as a win, at least,
against an amateur Irish team comprising farmers, butchers, accountants and
a sprinkling of expatriates from Australia and South Africa - then you would
probably still be shaking your head in disbelief that this is what our
cricket has come to in less than five years.

And now that
the team has come home to well-deserved oblivion, playing inconsequential
and (almost) unreported twenty-twenty tournaments that (almost) nobody,
beyond a handful of spectators, could be bothered to attend, Zimbabwe
Cricket has seen it fit to literally incarcerate the team within the country
by waving contracts in their faces, contracts which expressly forbid any of
these youngsters from playing abroad during our winter.

The players did sign these contracts and almost certainly they knew what the
small print said. But at the time they were asked to sign, weeks before the
World Cup, they would have signed their own death warrants just to breathe
the rarefied air of the tournament such as this.

Now they
will have to pay dearly for their naivety, sitting around and twiddling
their thumbs in Zimbabwe while waiting for their masters to cough up the
lolly.

Coughing up the lolly is not something that the
Zimbabwe Cricket is exactly famous for doing. There are, if the talk about
town is correct, quite a number of ex-national team players still waiting
for hard currency pay outs dating back several years.

Then there was the case of former national coach, Phil Simmonds, someone
whose tenure here expired amidst much fury and talk of monies unpaid. I do
hope the uniquely-named Prosper Utseya and his young band of wannabes
haven't done anything silly.

Catholics organise worldwide petition

The Zimbabwean

(14-04-07)The
Catholic Peace organisation Pax Christi International has issued an online
petition protesting violence and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.The online
'Letter of Solidarity', hopes that Zimbabweans will know 'peace rooted in
the rule of law and respect for human rights at every level in your
communities and your nation.' Drawing on a statement by Catholic Bishops in
Zimbabwe to turn the present situation into 'a moment of grace and a new
beginning' the document hopes that Zimbabweans 'may be strengthened in your
distress and comforted in the knowledge that the world hears your cries for
justice.' A covering letter by Marie Dennis, the Vice-President of Pax
Christi, describes the petition as 'a strong expression of deep concern from
people of faith around the world' which she hopes 'may make a small
contribution to peace in Zimbabwe and would let the people of Zimbabwe know
that they are not alone in their struggle for life.'Dennis's covering letter
concludes with an appeal to forward the petition (available at: http://www.petitiononline.com/22530309/petition.html)
to anyone that might be interested. She also notes that those with limited
internet access can email her directly at mdennis@igc.org with their name,
organisation (if appropriate), city and country to be included on the
petition.The 51 signatures on the list of signatories mainly come from
various parts of the United States, and many religious affiliations are
represented, as well as Catholics from Australia and Thailand. Their
comments are summed up by the words of one signatory from California, who
wrote that 'my husband and I support Africa University and are greatly aware
of the situation in Zimbabwe. We pray for a return to peace and justice for
your nation.'African names are absent from the list of signatories: perhaps
this should change, and quickly. - Jaime Ashworth

Tourism plummets as violence soars

The Zimbabwean

(14-04-07)BY GIFT
PHIRIHARARE - Pre-election political bickering, State-sponsored violence and
the deepening fuel crisis are adversely affecting Zimbabwe's tourism
industry amid reports the sector has suffered a 50 percent decline in
tourist arrivals due to the deepening crisis and the prevailing political
uncertainty.Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) documents to hand reveal
that between 40 and 50 percent of business has been lost since the eruption
of violence this year."The picture being painted in the foreign print
and electronic media is one of a not stable situation," says the document,
adding that the prevailing situation nullified ZTA's efforts to clean up the
country's image abroad.Chief executive Shingi Mutasa of a top hotel chain
told the core group of the tripartite forum recently that tourist arrivals
within the group were about 40 percent less than that of last year.He
said there was a general lack of confidence in what is happening in the
country."These issues are fundamental and should be urgently resolved.
Tourist arrivals are now 30 to 40 percent less than those of last year and
we still cannot tell those inquiring when the problems will be solved," he
said.Tourism is the third largest contributor to Zimbabwe's Gross Domestic
Growth after agriculture and manufacturing.

Zimbabwe's accelerating economic
decay

The Zimbabwean

(14-04-07)

By
Eric W. Bloch

One of the most frequently asked questions within
Zimbabwe's industrial and commercial environment is "When will the economy
hit rock bottom?". Increasingly the response is "There is no rock bottom in
a bottomless pit!", followed by a bitter and ironic further retort that "The
economy is so irreparably bad that it can't get any worse!". Whilst there
is substance to the first response, for it is inconceivable that Zimbabwe
can ever be wholly devoid of any economy, regrettably there is no foundation
to the second, for not only can the Zimbabwean economy worsen, but it is
doing so at an accelerating pace.

The evidence of the escalating rate
of economic collapse is more and more pronounced. Zimbabwe continues to hold
the unenviable record of the highest rate of inflation anywhere in the
world, exceeding 2000 per cent per annum, and still rising at a horrendous
rate. The pace of inflation has become so great that most industrialists are
revising selling prices every week, responsive to continuously increasing
costs of production, whilst some are doing so even more frequently. In like
manner, almost all shopkeepers are continuously increasing selling prices,
in many instances as often as daily. Very many employers have resorted to
paying salaries fortnightly, instead of monthly, so as to enable employers
to expend their earnings ahead of further price escalations.

Foreign
currency availability is becoming less and less, as almost all industries
previously engaged in exporting have had to discontinue their export
operations, and concentrate exclusively for production for the domestic
market, as they can no longer price competitively in export markets. Thanks
to a combination of the soaring inflation, and massively rising costs of
imported inputs which must increasingly be sourced through the Black and
other alternative markets, the industrialist's costs of production have
risen exponentially. But in contradistinction, the Zimbabwe Dollar exchange
rate has remained unchanged for nearly nine months.

-2-During those
nine months inflation-driven costs have risen by more than 900 per cent, and
yet the exporter realizes no more Zimbabwean Dollars for each unit of
foreign currency receivable for the exports than was forthcoming before such
gargantuan cost increases were sustained. It is little wonder, therefore,
that progressively ever more have had to discontinue their export
operations.

The rigid exchange rate regime has also impacted very
negatively upon tourism, for the unrealistic rate has made Zimbabwean
tourism untenably costly for tourists who are obliged, under Zimbabwe's
exchange control laws, to pay for their accommodation, and much else, in
foreign currency, with calculations of amounts payable being at the grossly
unrealistic, static exchange rates. The foreign currency scarcity is
further exacerbated by the very considerable extent that Government is
commandeering available foreign currency to fund food imports, necessitated
by the continuing failure of the Agricultural Sector to provide for
Zimbabwe's needs. (Government attributes that failure to drought. It must be
admitted that in the last season the climate conditions were unfavourable,
but nevertheless the poor agricultural outturn is primarily attributable to
a catastrophic mis-management of the Sector by Government, by extensive
allocation of farms to recipients ill-disposed to engage in farming, by
poorly-conceived leases which accord no collateral value and therefore
preclude access to required funding, and by belated sourcing and
distribution of inputs, whilst at the same time little or no assurance of
viable production prices).

With the contraction in industrial production,
due to most abandoning manufacture for export, some factories have been
forced into closure, whilst most others have had to down-size their
operations considerably. As a result, many more have joined the ranks of
the unemployed, with little or no prospect of obtaining alternative
employment. Whilst authoritative data is not available, it is estimated that
over 80 per cent of Zimbabwe's employable population is unemployed, and the
numbers unemployed would be very markedly greater were it not for the fact
that between three and four million Zimbabweans have departed the country to
see employment elsewhere (in the main, in South Africa and United
Kingdom).

-3-Yet another indicator of the distressed state of
the economy is the magnitude of the Fiscal deficit. The 2007 Budget,
presented to Parliament on 30th November, 2006, foreshadowed a gigantic
deficit of Z$20 trillion, and undoubtedly the actual deficit willbe
considerably greater, as Government has assumed declining inflation in 2007,
whilst the reverse is very pronouncedly the case. The extent of the fiscal
morass is very apparent from the fact that the State's borrowings have risen
from Z$290 billion at the end of February, 2007 to Z$922 billion a little
over two weeks later. So great is Government's dependency upon borrowings
that 67,8 per cent of those borrowings were required to fund interest
payments, which amounted to Z$626 billion.

Until Government allows
realistic, ongoing devaluations of the Zimbabwean Dollar, in alignment with
inflation, drastically cuts its expenditures, modifies its land reform
programme, and creates a genuinely welcoming, investment-conducive
environment, the continuing collapse of the economy is inevitable.